Developer: Deep Silver, Producer: Namco Bandai Games System requirements: CPU 3 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 3D Video Card with 256 MB, DirectX 9.0c compatible Game: Mage Knight Apocalypse Genre: RPG
NAMCO BANDAI Games America’s decision to enter the PC market by publishing an action-RPG based on the well-known universe of Mage Knight wasn’t random. You can’t just ignore the fact that there are a lot of fans for WizKids’ tabletop games, which also include MechWarrior and HeroClix. Also, the action-RPG community is still strong, despite the mediocre titles which are a disgrace when measured to the standards set by Diablo. So, as far as marketing goes, Mage Knight should have been a success. Unfortunately, it’s nothing short of a catastrophe. It’s difficult to determine how much of the guilt for this failure rests with the producers (InterServ) or Namco for being pleased with the “quality” of this game before it was released. Fact is, even though is has some good ideas, Mage Knight Apocalypse is an overall disaster.
For instance, although the storyline will be familiar to Mage Knight fans, its depiction leaves something to be desired. First of all, it’s completely linear. Don’t be fooled by the few side-passages, you’ll still reach the same end-point. The game is made up of chapters, each being broken down into a couple of zones, which you must finish in order if you want to get to the next chapter. You can navigate between levels, but the only practical use for this is managing the inventory. Be careful when exiting the game, because regardless of were you saved, if you didn’t finish that particular level, it will be repopulated with monsters and items.
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